Soyuz 19

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project

The Apollo spacecraft, as seen by the Soyuz crew.
Mission type	Cooperative/scientific
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1975-066A
SATCAT №	8032
Mission duration	9 d 01 h 28 min
Distance travelled	~5,990,000 km (3,720,000 mi)
Orbits completed	148
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Apollo CSM-111
Launch mass	16,780 kg or 36,990 lb (total CSM and DM)
Dry mass	14,768 kg (32,558 lb) (CSM)
Payload mass	2,012 kg or 4,436 lb (Docking Module)
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Thomas P. Stafford Vance D. Brand Donald K. Slayton
Callsign	Apollo
Start of mission
Launch date	19:50:00, July 15, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-15T19:50:00Z)
Rocket	Saturn IB SA-210
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39B
End of mission
Recovered by	USS New Orleans
Landing date	21:18:00, July 24, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-24T21:18:00Z)
Landing site	21°52′N 162°45′W / 21.867°N 162.750°W / 21.867; -162.750 (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project landing)
Orbital parameters
Perigee	217 km (135 mi)
Apogee	231 km (144 mi)
Inclination	51.7° or 51.75°
Period	87.6 or 88.91 minutes
Docking with Soyuz 19
Docking date	First: 16:19:09, July 17, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-17T16:19:09Z)
Undocking date	Last: 15:26:12, July 19, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-19T15:26:12Z)
Time docked	1 day, 23 hours, 07 min, 03 sec
Left to right: Slayton, Brand, Stafford

Soyuz 19

Soyuz 19 as seen from the Apollo.
Mission type	Cooperative/scientific
COSPAR ID	1975-065A
SATCAT №	8030
Mission duration	5 d 22 h 30 m
Distance travelled	~3,900,000 km (2,400,000 mi)
Orbits completed	96
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Soyuz 7K-TM
Dry mass	6,790 kg (14,970 lb)
Crew
Crew size	2
Members	Alexey Leonov Valeri Kubasov
Callsign	Союз (Soyuz - "Union")
Start of mission
Launch date	12:20:00, July 15, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-15T12:20:00Z)
Rocket	Soyuz-U
Launch site	Gagarin's Start, Baikonur Cosmodrome
End of mission
Recovered by	Soviet Armed Forces
Landing date	10:50:00, July 21, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-21T10:50:00Z)
Landing site	50°40′N 67°1′E / 50.667°N 67.017°E / 50.667; 67.017 (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project landing)
Orbital parameters
Perigee	218 km (135 mi) or 186 km (116 mi)
Apogee	231 km (144 mi) or 220 km (140 mi)
Inclination	51.76° or 51.8°
Period	88.92 or 88.5 min
Docking with Apollo CSM-111
Docking date	First: 16:19:09, July 17, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-17T16:19:09Z)
Undocking date	Last: 15:26:12, July 19, 1975 (UTC) (1975-07-19T15:26:12Z)
Time docked	1 day, 23 hours, 07 min, 03 sec
Left to right: Leonov, Kubasov Soyuz programme ← Soyuz 18 Soyuz 20 →

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) (Russian: Экспериментальный полёт «Союз» — «Аполлон», Eksperimantalniy polyot Soyuz-Apollon, lit. "Experimental flight Soyuz-Apollo"), conducted in July 1975, was the first joint U.S.–Soviet space flight, as a symbol of the policy of détente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time. It involved the docking of an Apollo Command/Service Module with the Soviet Soyuz 19. The unnumbered Apollo vehicle was a surplus from the terminated Apollo program and the last one to fly. This mission ceremoniously marked the end of the Space Race that had begun in 1957 with the Sputnik launch.

The mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments (including an engineered eclipse of the Sun by Apollo to allow Soyuz to take photographs of the solar corona), and provided useful engineering experience for future joint US–Russian space flights, such as the Shuttle–Mir Program and the International Space Station.

ASTP was the last manned US space mission until the first Space Shuttle flight in April 1981. It was also U.S. astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton's only space flight. He was chosen as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts in April 1959, but had been grounded until 1972 for medical reasons.